C1114 Coming Back!
The anguished cries of countless souls erupted from the depths of the Soulforge Pool. The spirits of beings from Ionodios had not dissipated into the cosmos but seemed to have been collected by the Soulforge Pool. Yet, they remained unrefined, with traces of spiritual wisdom still present.
They wailed and shrieked, desperate to break free from the Soulforge Pool, but their efforts were futile.
With a whoosh, a dark cauldron hovered above Yu Yuan's head. As he set foot at the pool's bottom, he connected telepathically with Yu Yiyi. The numerous acupoints opened by the Shadow Moon Essence exuded a soft, gentle aura. In an instant, a cascade of ethereal Bane, not yet given physical form, poured down like a waterfall, each finding a temporary home in his acupoints, akin to deities returning to their rightful thrones.
These formless Bane, manifestations of the soul, were guided by Yu Yiyi within the world of his acupoints. They merged with his acupoints, providing him with a constant flow of Soul Power. As Yu Yuan descended, the Soulforge Pool, emanating dark Soul Power, lit up with a crimson divine glow from the sword scars on its walls.
Yu Yuan's thoughts stirred, and he drew the sword sheath, cradling it in both hands. The sword scars etched into his arm bones burned fiercely, siphoning his vitality, remnant soul, and pure spiritual energy, while a scarlet sword light began to coalesce within his veins.
Taking a deep breath, Yu Yuan realized he could withstand the drain of vitality and spiritual energy, but his Soul Power was severely lacking. His true cultivation level was merely at the Spirit Walk stage, and his soul's refinement and accumulation paled in comparison to someone with a corporeal body from the Altar of Rebirth.
Thankfully, Yu Yiyi had anticipated this. She had arranged for soul spirits and Bane to inhabit his acupoints, providing him with the necessary support whenever his Soul Power waned, ensuring he never reached exhaustion.
In the pool's four corners, the stalwart guardians from Boulderdawn, led by Tian Zang, kept vigilant watch, allowing no room for negligence.
Chen Qinghuang, the guardian of the Dissolving Fortress, wore a grave look behind the beaded curtain. Having reached a decisive conclusion, she no longer spared Yu Yuan a glance.
Her attention was fixed on the Blood King, Sabonis, and his every action within the Golden Chariot.
At that moment, Sabonis was using his refined vitality to forge a hundred types of Sunsilver into a gleaming golden glaive, wreaking havoc upon the Holy Mountains shaped by President Lyi's Divine Visage.
Mountains crumbled and rivers were severed under his assault.
President Lyi, drawing upon the Sunsilver that surged from his throne, tirelessly mended the fractured Holy Mountains, restoring them to their former glory.
Their battle raged on unabated, with Sabonis holding a clear advantage.
Once Yu Yuan had taken his seat at the Soulforge Pool, the Blood King grasped the Boulderdawn's scheme.
"They aim to reclaim that sword."
Within the Blood King's icy gaze, devoid of any discernible emotion, a flicker of annoyance crossed his face. He shook his head in dismay, "Without the God-King's presence, they expect to retrieve the sword from my Dark Realm with just two at the pinnacle of the Unbound Realm? The Boulderdawn Sect underestimates me."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A volley of golden arrows burst forth from beneath the Golden Chariot, hurtling toward the Dissolving Fortress, intent on obliterating any obstacle.
Simultaneously, the colossal golden glaive, in concert with the arrow barrage, savagely sliced through the Holy Mountains, hewn by President Lyi's Divine Visage, severing several peaks in mere moments.
The Golden Throne, bearing President Lyi's Divine Visage, began to show a web of delicate fissures.
Clearly, even with the aid of Jun Chen's Constellation Array and the advantages of time and terrain, President Lyi, who had not yet ascended to the primordial spirit, was no match for Sabonis's unleashed might.
Sabonis's forceful strike was designed to prevent President Lyi from intercepting the deadly golden arrows.
His intent was clear: to use the golden arrows to extinguish all life in the vicinity of the Dissolving Fortress in an instant.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Tian Zang stood upon the Blood Altar as the Spawn of Chaos below coalesced into a viscous blue shadow, shrouding the Dissolving Fortress, the Soulforge Pool, the Sky Fiend Indigo Wraith, the Stormcrowned Emperor, and all within its reach.
Golden arrows pierced the Spawn of Chaos, their brilliance dulled by the relentless assault of impurities and toxins inherent in the psionic power.
The Blood Altar, a war Divine Artifact, was forged by the collective might of the Star-Spawned Terror from the Outer Domain.
Tian Zang, the rightful master of the Blood Altar and a Ghost King in his own right, adept in the myriad Mind Magic of the Sky Fiend, managed to fend off a barrage from Blood King Sabonis. Yet, the Spawn of Chaos was left riddled with innumerable gaping wounds.
"Summon the Divine Sword!" Tian Zang commanded, his voice a muffled grunt from within the Spawn of Chaos, directing Yu Yuan as Blood King Sabonis, having momentarily disregarded President Lyi, charged toward the Dissolving Fortress atop his Golden Chariot.
At the depths of the Soulforge Pool, Yu Yuan gripped his sword sheath, enveloped in a torrent of scarlet sword light. Squinting, he sensed the pool's amplification of his soul, the Bane infusing his acupoints with overwhelming Soul Power and heightened awareness. Guided by the sword spirit, he unleashed a strike and a soulful cry.
A swath of scarlet sword light, broad as a river, burst forth from the Spawn of Chaos, cleaving through the darkest abyss.
The darkness surrounding the Deathwing Lair was rent asunder by the expansive river of sword light, revealing the Undying Bird's nest within the pit in stark clarity.
The infinite darkness was bisected by the crimson sword river, forcibly parted by the sword's will, retreating to either side.
Nearby, a host of seventh-level Shura warriors fell en masse, overcome by the sword light's might.
From the unseen depths, Lin Zhuyun's piercing scream echoed, a testament to the sword light's reach.
Sinton and other ninth-level Shura, like Fernand, fled the Deathwing Lair in terror, their forms marred by wounds inflicted by the sword light.
Yu Yuan, bolstered by the Soulforge Pool and the myriad devil souls, let out a resonant cry that abruptly ceased.
It was as if the Dragon Slaying Stage above the lair had devoured the cry, which, after being magnified by the Hex Stone, emerged a dozen times more potent and imbued with the residual psionic power of the Chronowyrm.
"Come back!"
The cry pierced through the vastness of space, amplified by the Dragon Slaying Stage, and cascaded toward the border between the Deathwing Lair and the Frost Well.
From the enigmatic Dark Realm, innumerable echoes of "come back" suddenly arose.
For the beings of the outside world, this strange land was nearly impossible to traverse. Yet, within the pure darkness, a cataclysmic upheaval was occurring, hidden from the eyes of all in Ionodios.
Within the Soulforge Pool, Yu Yuan, following the sword spirit's guidance, unleashed a sword strike with a shout and then collapsed to the ground, utterly drained.
The numerous Banes that had taken residence in his acupoints seemed to have exhausted their Soul Power and one by one retreated to the sanctuary of the cauldron's little world.
The sword scar on the pool's wall remained profound, no longer emitting a crimson glow.
The sword sheath gripped in Yu Yuan's hand was devoid of any sword light, his arm bone still searing hot, and the sword spirit's longing unabated. Yet, not a trace of sword power remained in his veins.
With a single stroke, he had summoned every ounce of strength available to him, and even that which was not.
That stroke cleaved through the darkness, revealing the lair, the Dragon Slaying Stage, and the Frost Well, sending a wondrous Soul Voice to the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Squinting, the peculiar Hex Stone briefly became the embodiment of his consciousness.
Through the Dragon Slaying Stage, he sensed the Dark Realm.
His soul, as if drifting through the frigid darkness, sensed an ice mountain, shaped like a colossal blade, quaking intensely.
Chunks of ice were dislodged, gradually exposing the mountain's true form...
It was a supremely sharp, massive Divine Sword!
The Divine Sword was absorbing the thunderous "come back" calls from within the Dark Realm, like a slumberer awakening after eons to persistent whispers.
Each "come back" was delivered into the Divine Sword, acknowledged and accepted.
As this unfolded, the heat in Yu Yuan's arm bone, seemingly influenced by the Dark Realm's ice energy, began to subside.
The sword spirit yearned, its soul pulsating with eerie transformations.
It was fading, vanishing, as if it were leaving him behind.
Time passed, and Yu Yuan could no longer sense the sword spirit's presence. Yet, through the Dragon Slaying Stage, he was aware that the colossal Divine Sword in the Dark Realm was silently contracting and altering.
As the Divine Sword diminished, a piercing sword's will capable of ripping through the void grew stronger.
Yu Yuan paused, taken aback, then quickly realized the situation. He turned to Tian Zang, his face etched with fury.
The sword spirit had been mysteriously extracted from the two segments of arm bone within him. It traveled through the Dragon Slaying Stage, along a concealed passage to the Dark Realm, and entered the enigmatic domain.
It had also penetrated the core of the Divine Sword.
The sword spirit, which he had acquired from the Moonfall Sanctuary, had been his constant companion, aiding him innumerably. Now, it had departed, seemingly severing all ties with him.
How could he contain his rage?
He suspected that someone from Boulderdawn was manipulating the situation to seize the Titanblade.
"The sword spirit must enter the Dark Realm; otherwise, the Divine Sword cannot return on its own," Tian Zang said calmly, offering a sincere explanation. "Rest assured, this Divine Sword will be yours alone."
The Blood King, aboard his Golden Chariot, was fiercely intercepted by Green Willow, Beru, Mia, and Zhongli Dapan in the heavens.
"Order a bloodbath upon Ionodios for This King!"
